There is always a moment. It arrives just before the first course. The conversation softens. Someone pours another glass of chilled white wine. A wooden Riva drifts effortlessly into the harbour. Salt hangs in the afternoon air. The sea catches the light in thousands of different directions. No one reaches for their phone. For a brief moment, lunch becomes something larger than a meal. The world’s finest waterfront restaurants understand a simple truth: people rarely remember every dish they ate. They remember how a place made them feel. The sound of waves meeting the shoreline beneath the terrace. The smell of citrus carried in on the breeze. The slow arrival of another course while the afternoon quietly stretches into evening. The greatest tables by the water are destinations in themselves. Places worth crossing countries—and sometimes continents—for. This is the first edition of Tables by the Water, a continuing journal exploring extraordinary restaurants where cuisine, architecture and landscape exist in perfect harmony.
1. La Sponda
Positano, Italy
There are few restaurant dining rooms more romantic than La Sponda.
Hidden within Le Sirenuse, the restaurant opens towards the cliffs of Positano where pastel homes climb impossibly above the Mediterranean. As daylight fades, hundreds of candles illuminate the room, replacing the sun with a softer kind of light.
Everything slows here.
Lunch effortlessly becomes dinner.
Dinner quietly becomes midnight.
The menu celebrates the Campania coastline through elegant seafood, handmade pasta and produce sourced from nearby hillsides.
Yet the food is only one part of the experience.
Watching boats arrive beneath the cliffs while church bells echo across the bay is equally unforgettable.
Reserve for
Long lunches that have no planned ending.
Best table
Request the terrace overlooking Positano.
Order
The local seafood tasting menu and whatever fish arrived that morning.
After lunch
Lose yourself in Positano’s narrow streets before returning by boat.
Styled in VAËL
Soft linen in warm oat. Suede loafers without socks. A lightweight knit carried over one shoulder for the journey home.
2. La Fontelina
Capri, Italy
There are restaurants.
Then there are places that feel impossible.
La Fontelina sits directly beside the famous Faraglioni sea stacks where swimmers arrive by boat and lunch is served only a few metres from the sea itself.
There is no rush.
Tables remain occupied for hours.
Champagne replaces schedules.
The simplicity of grilled fish, tomatoes, olive oil and freshly made pasta somehow becomes extraordinary because of where you are.
The sea does most of the work.
Reserve for
A long afternoon after swimming.
Best table
The front row closest to the water.
Order
Grilled catch of the day.
After lunch
Spend the afternoon beneath one of the blue-and-white striped umbrellas before returning to Capri Town by boat.
Styled in VAËL
A white linen shirt worn open over tailored swim shorts. Salt-dried hair. Nothing more.
3. Le Club 55
Saint-Tropez, France
There are beach clubs.
Then there is Club 55.
For more than seventy years it has quietly become one of the Riviera’s most iconic lunch reservations.
Superyachts anchor offshore.
Families return every summer.
Hollywood arrives discreetly.
Despite its reputation, nothing feels theatrical.
Whitewashed timber.
Fresh flowers.
Grilled fish.
Rosé served impossibly cold.
It remains wonderfully understated.
Exactly as Saint-Tropez should be.
Reserve for
An afternoon that begins with lunch and ends at sunset.
Order
Fresh sea bass baked in salt.
After lunch
Walk the length of Pampelonne Beach before returning to your hotel.
Styled in VAËL
Stone-coloured linen trousers. A knitted polo. Sunglasses that never shout.
4. Da Adolfo
Amalfi Coast, Italy
No luxury signs.
No valet parking.
No grand entrance.
Only a tiny fishing boat flying a red fish that ferries guests from Positano across the bay.
That journey alone has become part of the legend.
Da Adolfo remains wonderfully authentic.
Simple seafood.
Wood-fired mozzarella.
Cold wine.
A beach small enough to feel private.
It reminds us that luxury isn’t always expensive.
Sometimes it is simply impossible to replicate.
Reserve for
Escaping the crowds.
Order
Grilled octopus or the famous mozzarella cooked in lemon leaves.
After lunch
A quick swim before catching the boat back into Positano.
5. La Guérite
Cannes, France
Technically, lunch begins on an island.
Reached only by boat, La Guérite occupies the Île Sainte-Marguerite opposite Cannes.
The setting feels almost cinematic.
Stone terraces.
Pine trees.
Music gradually increasing as afternoon becomes evening.
The Mediterranean stretching endlessly towards the horizon.
Many arrive expecting lunch.
Most stay until sunset.
Reserve for
Celebrations.
Order
Shared Mediterranean seafood.
After lunch
A stroll through the island’s pine forests before boarding the final boat back to Cannes.
TABLES BY THE WATER — FIVE ADDRESSES WORTH THE JOURNEY
There is always a moment. It arrives just before the first course. The conversation softens. Someone pours another glass of chilled white wine. A wooden Riva drifts effortlessly into the harbour. Salt hangs in the afternoon air. The sea catches the light in thousands of different directions. No one reaches for their phone. For a brief moment, lunch becomes something larger than a meal. The world’s finest waterfront restaurants understand a simple truth: people rarely remember every dish they ate. They remember how a place made them feel. The sound of waves meeting the shoreline beneath the terrace. The smell of citrus carried in on the breeze. The slow arrival of another course while the afternoon quietly stretches into evening. The greatest tables by the water are destinations in themselves. Places worth crossing countries—and sometimes continents—for. This is the first edition of Tables by the Water, a continuing journal exploring extraordinary restaurants where cuisine, architecture and landscape exist in perfect harmony.
1. La Sponda
Positano, Italy
There are few restaurant dining rooms more romantic than La Sponda.
Hidden within Le Sirenuse, the restaurant opens towards the cliffs of Positano where pastel homes climb impossibly above the Mediterranean. As daylight fades, hundreds of candles illuminate the room, replacing the sun with a softer kind of light.
Everything slows here.
Lunch effortlessly becomes dinner.
Dinner quietly becomes midnight.
The menu celebrates the Campania coastline through elegant seafood, handmade pasta and produce sourced from nearby hillsides.
Yet the food is only one part of the experience.
Watching boats arrive beneath the cliffs while church bells echo across the bay is equally unforgettable.
Reserve for
Long lunches that have no planned ending.
Best table
Request the terrace overlooking Positano.
Order
The local seafood tasting menu and whatever fish arrived that morning.
After lunch
Lose yourself in Positano’s narrow streets before returning by boat.
Styled in VAËL
Soft linen in warm oat. Suede loafers without socks. A lightweight knit carried over one shoulder for the journey home.
2. La Fontelina
Capri, Italy
There are restaurants.
Then there are places that feel impossible.
La Fontelina sits directly beside the famous Faraglioni sea stacks where swimmers arrive by boat and lunch is served only a few metres from the sea itself.
There is no rush.
Tables remain occupied for hours.
Champagne replaces schedules.
The simplicity of grilled fish, tomatoes, olive oil and freshly made pasta somehow becomes extraordinary because of where you are.
The sea does most of the work.
Reserve for
A long afternoon after swimming.
Best table
The front row closest to the water.
Order
Grilled catch of the day.
After lunch
Spend the afternoon beneath one of the blue-and-white striped umbrellas before returning to Capri Town by boat.
Styled in VAËL
A white linen shirt worn open over tailored swim shorts. Salt-dried hair. Nothing more.
3. Le Club 55
Saint-Tropez, France
There are beach clubs.
Then there is Club 55.
For more than seventy years it has quietly become one of the Riviera’s most iconic lunch reservations.
Superyachts anchor offshore.
Families return every summer.
Hollywood arrives discreetly.
Despite its reputation, nothing feels theatrical.
Whitewashed timber.
Fresh flowers.
Grilled fish.
Rosé served impossibly cold.
It remains wonderfully understated.
Exactly as Saint-Tropez should be.
Reserve for
An afternoon that begins with lunch and ends at sunset.
Order
Fresh sea bass baked in salt.
After lunch
Walk the length of Pampelonne Beach before returning to your hotel.
Styled in VAËL
Stone-coloured linen trousers. A knitted polo. Sunglasses that never shout.
4. Da Adolfo
Amalfi Coast, Italy
No luxury signs.
No valet parking.
No grand entrance.
Only a tiny fishing boat flying a red fish that ferries guests from Positano across the bay.
That journey alone has become part of the legend.
Da Adolfo remains wonderfully authentic.
Simple seafood.
Wood-fired mozzarella.
Cold wine.
A beach small enough to feel private.
It reminds us that luxury isn’t always expensive.
Sometimes it is simply impossible to replicate.
Reserve for
Escaping the crowds.
Order
Grilled octopus or the famous mozzarella cooked in lemon leaves.
After lunch
A quick swim before catching the boat back into Positano.
5. La Guérite
Cannes, France
Technically, lunch begins on an island.
Reached only by boat, La Guérite occupies the Île Sainte-Marguerite opposite Cannes.
The setting feels almost cinematic.
Stone terraces.
Pine trees.
Music gradually increasing as afternoon becomes evening.
The Mediterranean stretching endlessly towards the horizon.
Many arrive expecting lunch.
Most stay until sunset.
Reserve for
Celebrations.
Order
Shared Mediterranean seafood.
After lunch
A stroll through the island’s pine forests before boarding the final boat back to Cannes.